Starting a fire when it's wet out

[Michael]

Let's assume for a moment that you don't have dry tinder in your equipment. You don't have a big ball of dryer lint, or cardboard dipped in candle wax, or any of the other perfectly serviceable items you could have with you to get a fire going. Likewise, let's assume that you don't have one of those dandy magnesium blocks that will even let you start fires with wet twigs.

Further assume that you have a firesteel or a couple of matches. You also have a knife, a hand saw, and whatever other basic tools you generally have around. Other than that, you've got what you can find around the woods, and it's all wet from a couple days of rain.

How do you start a fire? What do you gather for tinder? Any special tricks for arranging it so that it'll catch better?

The only way I know in this situation is to get white birch bark. Look for a felled birch, then peel a bunch of the bark off. It catches okay, and if you have enough you can dry out twigs enough that they'll eventually catch. From there, it's just a matter of being extra careful to build the fire up strongly; once you have a nice bed of coals, you'll even be able to catch even wet wood.

So what tricks do you use?

[hydethebeef]

The first thing I would do is find some green timber to cut. I would get enough to make a platform and try to get it as dry as possible by swinging it in a circular motion. With the green timber I would build the driest platform I can. Then, if you have enough, take some hair and maybe some dry bark to start with. I dunno then you just do your best.

[foxylady]

Well considering I have a hard time starting a fire with the driest of wood, this might be a problem for me! Do I have a newspaper? If so I would start with that and then throw some wood on.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by foxylady

Well considering I have a hard time starting a fire with the driest of wood, this might be a problem for me! Do I have a newspaper? If so I would start with that and then throw some wood on.

I'm assuming that, for whatever reason, you have nothing at all to use as tinder except what you can find in the woods. No newspaper, no lint, no cardboard, nothing.

[Drewglynn]

A couple of things u can do are, use your knife to shave the wet bark away until u start getting dry fibers on a cedar tree or various others for that matter, your also going to want to be familiar with splitting wood using the baton method with your knife to get to the dry inner wood, also if u have a saw, as u saw thru a fallen branch the saw dust from the inner wood will be dry and makes excellent tinder as well.

[northernbushape]

Originally Posted by Michael

...

Further assume that you have a firesteel or a couple of matches. You also have a knife, a hand saw, and whatever other basic tools you generally have around. Other than that, you've got what you can find around the woods, and it's all wet from a couple days of rain.

You have everything you need right there. I live in a rain forest environment so this is one of my specialties.

The best method I know of is making feather sticks. You don't need any special tinder or fatwood or anything like that if this is done correctly.

Basically ... collect your kindling and fuel from standing dead or at least dead branches attached to live trees. You can also use fallen dead as long as the wood is off the ground. The key is to harvest the wood from above the ground. Do not use wood that has been laying on the ground as it will absorb a lot of moisture and can prove to be almost impossible to burn. Take time when gathering wood, you will need some pieces as small as pencil lead or there about, then pencil sized, then finger sized and so forth. You will build your fire in stages progressing from smallest to largest as the flame sustains itself.

Make a small platform - can be just 2 sticks - anything to keep your freshly collected wood off the wet ground. Break your wood into suitable lengths for your fire and separate it into groups ranging from smallest to largest. Have it ready to go when you actually light it. Make sure you have enough wood so you are not scrambling and foraging for wood while trying to keep your fire lit.

Take some of your thicker pieces say, 2"-4" round and split them to expose the dry wood inside. Split it down again into quarters. You can do this with smaller pieces too until they can no longer be split. I prefer a good, stout knife for this as you can split down smaller than you can with a hatchet.

Once you have your wood split down and the dry stuff exposed, here is where the magic starts. Take your knife or hatchet - they must be razor sharp for this part - and slowly start to carve long, thin, curly shavings downwards and leave them attached to the stick. This is called feathering or fuzzing. You should end up with a stick that has a bunch or fine curls attached to it running all the way around the stick. This is what you will light. Make up a half dozen or so of these feather sticks.

* A hint - there will always be squared edges when you split wood or carve it. Use these squared edges to make your curls. Each time you run your knife down and make a new curl, there will be 2 more squared edges created. Keep feathering down those edges and work you way all the way around the stick. If you plan on using a fire-steel to light it, you will have to make some literally paper-thin curls in order to catch the spark, and you will need to be well practiced in throwing fat, hot sparks close to your tinder.

Next, put the feather sticks aside and tend to your actual fire lay. On wet ground you will want to put some wrist-sized sticks down to keep your dry wood off the ground while lighting the fire. If possible try to lay your fire where it will have some shelter from the rain - this is not always possible but can help a lot if it is.

Next place your feather sticks on your fire lay platform and light the bottom-most feathers. The finer you make your feathers the easier they will light. Once they catch, start adding your smallest pieces followed by bigger and bigger pieces. Don;t be shy, get that stuff on there and burning so the wood has a chance to dry a bit more and catch fire.

You can use a tepee style stack as this will give you the best chance to dry out your wood a little more and get some big flames going.

This method is almost fail-proof if the proper wood is collected, your knife is up to the task, and you take the time to prepare thoroughly instead of getting impatient. You need nothing other than the wood you collect. I suggest that people practice this technique until comfortable before a critical need arises.

I have an upcoming video on this technique that will be done in the next couple weeks. I will post a link when I have it completed.

[Michael]

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer. Very helpful.

[SuperFish]

Excellent answer. I will keep that in mind next time I am somewhere wet. I once had the same problem when I went camping and forgot one of the bags, so I really appreciate the answer!

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

ya what he said excellent post

[dinosaur]

Well, I know how to do all that stuff but I just carry a half dozen Trioxane tabs with me. You can buy these at military surplus stores or websites.